Thomas Hunt Morgan (* 25 September 1866 in Lexington, Kentucky; "† 5 December 1945 in Pasadena, California), was an US-American zoologist and Genetiker, who cleared the fundamental structure up of the Chromosomen by crossing attempts with the baptizing couch Drosophila more melanogaster. He discovered that the genes (hereditary factors) lay successively on the Chromosomen and determined their order and distances to each other. Its it summarized results in Chromosomenkarten (gene maps).

it received the Nobelpreis for medicine to 1933. It is considered to outgoing 19 as one of the prominent biologists. and early 20. Century.

Life

Thomas Hunt Morgan was born in Lexington (Kentucky). Its study of biology at the university of Kentucky it locked 1888 with the master. It attained a doctorate 1890 at the John Hopkins university. After the Mendel laws were rediscovered around 1900 among other things due to the work by Hugo de Vries, he began to be interested in the leaving teachings. From 1908 on it undertook two years long crossing attempts with baptizing couches, without obtaining results. 1910 he discovered a male Mutanten under the normally flies. With crossings of this fly with a female the descendants of the first generation were all which suggested that the hereditary factor for this characteristic was rezessiv left. With crossings of the descendants among themselves half of in such a way produced male flies had white eyes. Morgan concluded from the fact that the plant for the eye color lies on the X-Chromosom and is left with this.

This first success was the cause, with its students the leaving characteristics rope that generations from fruit flies to examined, in order to conclude how the genes on the Chromosomen are arranged.

After 1928 Morgan continued its research at the California institutes OF Technology.

Have a lasting effect

Morgan affected the genetics also after its life: Some his students and research assistants in the following years with the Nobelpreis were distinguished. In addition George Wells Beadle, Edward B. Lewis and Hermann Joseph Muller count. To the memory of Morgan the "Genetics Society OF America" lends annually "Thomas Hunt Morgan Medal" at researchers, who made a substantial contribution for the science of the genetics.

The Eric Richard Kandel combined the contribution Morgans into the genetics and biology with the following words: "Much as Darwin's insights into the evolution OF animal species roofridge gave coherence ton nineteenth century biology as A descriptive science, Morgan's findings about gene and their location on of chromosomes helped transform biology into at experimental science."

Literature

• Ilse Jahn, Michael Schmitt (Hrsg); Darwin & CO - a history of biology in volume II, publishing house C.H.Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-44639-6
• Martin Brookes; Drosophila - the success history of the fruit fly, Rowohlt publishing house, Hamburg 2002, ISBN 3-498-00622-3

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• Thomas Hunt Morgan (1866-1945)

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